Diaper and the like



NM. 6, 3934. R J QBRIEN ET AL 1,979,899

DIAPER AND THE LIKE Filed Au' 25.1952

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 6, 1934 DIIAPER AND THE HJDKJE Robert .F. GBrien and Abraham A. Rubin, Newark, N. ll.

Application August 25, 1932, Serial No. 630356 2 Claims. (or. 128-284) There is armed, especially in maternity hospitals, for an infants diaper that can be sold at a price that permits it to be discarded or thrown away, after one use, and which can be so 5 disposed of by throwing into toilets without danger of choking or clogging waste pipes. The practical importance of such an article, especially in hospital use, will be appreciated from the fact that a young infant requires as many as m seven changes in twenty-four hours. Efforts have been made to supply a diaper that will meet this need, but they have failed to result in a satisfactory article. We speak from knowledge professionally acquired. Some of the requirements of such an article are that it shall be cheap of manufacture, capable of absorption of the body discharges, or excreta, both urine and faces, at all times be not uncomfortable nor annoying to the infant, and readily disposed of after use. The object of our invention is to supply an article for this real need: Of course articles embodying our invention may be put to other uses, even though we have had in-view the supply of the particular large need mentioned which heretofore has not been satisfactorily filled. Our invention accordingly consists in whatever is described by or is included withinthe scope of the appended claims.

In the annexed drawing: 1

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of our invention as embodied in an infant's diaper and shown folded before use;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, with the gauze wrapper unfolded;

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

When embodied in an infants diaper and as shown in the drawing, the absorbent pad, 10, is oblong in form and is composed of loosely superimposed thin layers or sheets of cellulosic ma terial, so that by reason of the nature of the material itself, and the loose piling of the sheets the pad has ample capacity to absorb or hold body discharges, is light, soft and pliablev so that it closely conforms to the infant's body without any annoying pressure, but on the contrary is entirely comfortable, and readily disintegrates,

when in water, so that when thrown in the sewage receptacles or pipes, it speedily passes off with the flush water and clogging. cannot occur.

The wrapper 11', is of course mesh gauze and is oblong in form, of a size about three times the width, or narrower dimension of the pad so that when loosely folded thereabout, there will be one layer or fold on one side and two overlapping layers or folds on the other side of the pad, and

one of these layers-the innermost, or that next the pad is made liquid-impermeable, as by a thin coating, 12, of latex rubber cement, or other material which in effect, is a homogeneous, or intev -gral part of the wrapper, is liquid-impervious, so

soft and wholly flexible, not brittle, so that it will not crease into more or less sharp ridges, apt to break, and irritate the tender delicate fieshof the infant, and not cause crackling noises from body movements'of the infant, which would disturb its slumber. The area thus coated is substantially equal to the area of the adjacent side of the pad, and is something less than one third the area of the wrapper.

Preferably, the wrapper lengthwise of the pad is an inch or two longer than the latter, so that end flaps, 13, may be folded over at the ends to confine the pad in the wrapper and make a neat, flat package for ready packing. and handling, and for opening out for application to the infant. The wrapper, being merely loosely folded about the pad, and not positively attached thereto, may be readily separated from the pad, when the'latter is to be thrown away, and may be crumpled up into a small ball or mass, and thrown into a so suitable receptacle for proper after-disposal.

Preferably a suitable deoderant is applied to the pad, and the impermeable coating 12-is given a color contrasting with rest of the wrapper, both to enhance the appearance of the article, 5 and for the practical reason thatit will aid the mother or nurse in applying the diaper with the impervious side outward, and not next the body of the child.

The two-piece characteristic of our article is 0 important, first, because manual operations in manufacture and quantity of material required are reduced and simplified, and this means low manufacturing cost; second, the bulk of the article is small, which means economy of storage or packing space, and comfort to the wearer, because the quantity of material is placed in the narrow space between the legs; and, third, disposal of the used'article is simplified'and facilitated.

A very important use of articles embodying our invention, is in travel, especially short or week end trips, when the bulk and laundry requirements of cloth articles for the same purpose become important considerations.

We claim: b

1. An article of the character set forth composed of but two parts, one a pad of material that absorbs natural body discharges, and a sheet form gauze wrapper folded thereover, but with- 110 out connection therewith so as to be freelyremovable from the pad the pad being of mav terial readily disintegrating in water, and having a. limited liquid impermeable area on the side of the pad opposite that side which comes next the body in use, whereby liquid absorbed by the pad is confined to the latter, said impermeable area being. formed bya thin, adhering coating of soft, flexible material that folds or bends without creasing or cracking, such material filling the meshes or interstices of the fabric.

2. An article ofthe character set forth composed of but two parts, one a pad of material that absorbs natural body discharges, and a sheet ROBERT J. OBRIEN. ABRAHAM A. RUBIN. 

